1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the visualization of aerodynamic flow effect and more particularly to the use of multi-colored layers to aid in such visualization.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It is often useful to visualize air flow across a particular surface to study specific aerodynamic effects. For example, viscous media such as oil or heavy gases are placed in test surfaces during wind tunnel tests. The deformations experienced by the applied media approximate air flow patterns. These methods are expensive and are often messy. In addition, they often ignore the effects of isolated small areas of the test surface such as around a rivet head or where fluid separates from the surface. Also, sublimating chemicals of known mass have been applied to test surfaces, subjected to an airflow, and then removed and weighed. The difference between the pre- and post-test masses is indicative of the amount of heat transfer between the air flow and the test surface. However, this method does not permit visualization of the flow.